Lighting Africa, a joint
International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank programme, is mobilizing
the private sector to build sustainable markets that provide safe, affordable and
modern off-grid lighting to Africa’s un-electrified communities. The programme
aims to increase energy access for and provide better lighting to 2.5 million people
by 2012 and 250 million by 2030.

Proper lighting is a basic need, the absence of
which hinders social and economic development. Yet nearly 600 million people in
Africa – about 70% of the population – lack electricity and rely on expensive,
inefficient and polluting lighting sources such as candles or kerosene. Unless
current trends are reversed, about 700 million Africans will be living without
electricity by 2030.

Lighting
Africa relies on the premise that Africa is an emerging market for clean,
modern off-grid lighting products that can displace kerosene use and improve
the quality of life of millions on the continent. The programme works as a
catalyst to make quality off-grid lighting products accessible to energy-poor
households in several regions of the continent.

Africans
spend an estimated US$ 10.5 billion on kerosene for lighting annually. This
represents a vast, largely untapped opportunity for the off-grid lighting
sector. Recent technological advances promise clean, durable, and high-quality
solutions for people who are not yet connected to the grid. Today, solar and
other lighting products offer better illumination, longer battery life, and
features such as cell phone chargers. The price of these products has also
fallen sharply in the past five years, making them increasingly affordable to
low-income households.

However,
this emerging market for off-grid products is hard to penetrate. Manufacturers
struggle to find business partners, and financial institutions not familiar
with the industry are unable to exploit the market’s growth potential. In
addition, end users have not yet embraced the new technologies, and low-quality
products undermine consumer confidence.

Lighting Africa works as a
neutral broker of industry interests and supports the growth of innovative
companies along the supply chain. Working with manufacturers and distributors,
Lighting Africa reduces the risks for new entrants by providing them with
market intelligence and linking them to business partners. It also runs a
quality assurance programme to establish quality standards and mitigate market
spoilage.

Lighting Africa also runs education campaigns that help
consumers make informed purchasing decisions, by showcasing the eight products
that have so far passed Lighting Africa quality tests. For financial
institutions, Lighting Africa offers market insights to help them better assess
markets and capitalize on opportunities. In partnership with local banks, the
programme also provides trade finance facilities for distributors and
retailers.

The
programme also works with governments in sub-Saharan Africa to create a
favourable policy and regulatory environment and integrate low-cost, off-grid solutions into their rural and informal settlement electrification plans. The programme has already
been piloted in Kenya and Ghana with the following results to date:

•Eight products have so far passed Lighting
Africa quality tests and are available in the African market, retailing between
US$ 22 and US$ 97.

•In 2010, over 134,000 portable solar lamps
that had passed Lighting Africa quality tests were sold in Africa, providing
more than 672,000 people with cleaner, safer and better lighting and improved
energy access.

•Since February
2011, the first testing lab in East Africa is offering assessments of off-grid
lighting products as a commercial service to manufacturers and distributors.
The lab, at the University of Nairobi, uses Lighting Africa’s low-cost initial
screening method.

The programme is expanding
to Tanzania, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Mali, with the potential to grow further
still.